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Africa in Motion (AiM) Film Festival takes lessons from Children and Youth in Africa

Africa in Motion (AiM), the UK’s largest African film festival, is in its sixth year and takes place from 2 Nov to 6 Nov 2011 at Filmhouse in Edinburgh. WithChildren and Youth in Africaas its overall theme, this year’s festival will showcase cinematic representations for, by and about children and young people both in the rural areas and the urban centres of Africa. The programme deals with many aspects relating to youth in Africa, such as education, entertainment, stories and myths, the future and social issues.

The festival opens on Wed 2 Nov with Tunisian director Nacer Khemir’s dreamy fairytale Bab’Aziz: The Prince who contemplated his soul. Bab’Aziz, a blind dervish who intimately knows the desert, is travelling with his vivacious granddaughter Ishtar to a great reunion of dervishes which takes place every 30 years. As the tale unfolds amongst the beautiful desert landscapes of Tunisia, Bab’Aziz and Ishtar encounter extraordinary characters and stories.

Sat 5 Nov is dedicated to our younger audiences, starting with a free storytelling event by beloved Edinburgh-based Kenyan/Scottish storyteller Mara Menzies. A programme of African films for children includes entertaining and colourful stories and animations from all over the continent. The screenings will be followed by drumming and dancing workshops for children and families, where children will learn djembe drumming and African dance rhythms.

This year’s festival will also include screenings of a number of films especially for primary and secondary schools in and around Edinburgh, in collaboration with National Schools Film Week. Schools are invited to Filmhouse for screenings of fiction, animation and documentary films followed by fun and challenging workshops for Scottish children to really engage with the lives of their counterparts in Africa.

Three award-winning feature fiction films from the 2011 FESPACO film festival, the largest African film festival in the world held biennially in Burkina Faso, will be screened for the first time in the UK at this year’s Africa in Motion: Notre étrangère (The Place in Between) from Burkina Faso grapples with issues of belonging, identity and the relationship between a mother and a daughter; Moroccan film Pegase (Pegasus),a surreal coming-of-age drama, told through flashbacks and dreamscapes, winner of Best Film at FESPACO; and the closing film Un pas en avant, les dessous de la corruption (One Step Forward: The Inside of Corruption) from Benin, which won the FESPACO award for best actor and humourously deals with corruption and politics in Africa.

As in previous years, AiM will host a number of seminars and documentary screenings at Edinburgh College of Art. Nigerian director Obi Emelonye will talk about Nollywood, the prolific low-budget Nigerian video-film industry, and his award-winning fiction film The Mirror Boy. African Social Documentaries will address prominent social issues in contemporary African societies: disability and domestic abuse. African Documentaries about Childrenwill tackle serious children’s issues. In collaboration with the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Theology and Public Issues’s (CTPI) Project on’Peace-building through Media Arts’, a series of documentaries will offer examples of peace-building through film, with screenings followed by discussions.

The annual Africa in Motion Short Film Competition returns with seven stunning short films from across Africa. Dealing with themes ranging from myths and folktales, families and relationships, to mysterious powers and the magic of storytelling the films are representative of the exciting young filmmaking talent in Africa. The winner will be announced immediately after the screenings with the audience getting a chance to vote for their favourite in the Audience Choice Award.

Festival founder and management team member Lizelle Bisschoff says:« Africa in Motion 2011 is dedicated to children and youth. With a programme filled with stories and representations by, for and about the youth of Africa, we are looking towards the future of the continent with excitement and optimism. Not only are we celebrating the extraordinary filmmaking talent from Africa, but also the future of a continent from which we have much to learn. »

For full programme details please visit www.africa-in-motion.org.uk.

Tickets are available from Filmhouse box office on 0131 228 2688 orwww.filmhousecinema.com. Concessionary discounts and ticket deals are available.

AiM is funded by Creative Scotland, Commonwealth Foundation and British Film Institute Transition Fund (Africa in Motion Schools Tour). Sponsors are: Centre for Theology and Public Issues (CTPI), University of Edinburgh; School of Languages, Cultures and Religions, University of Stirling; Scottish Documentary Institute; Society for Francophone Postcolonial Studies; Centre of African Studies, University of Edinburgh; Wines of South Africa and The Africa Channel (Short Film Competition).

AiM is supported by a Board of Advisors consisting of high profile film critic, writer and producer Mark Cousins; Professor Noe Mendelle, Head of Film and TV at the Edinburgh College of Art and Director of the Scottish Documentary Institute; Professor David Murphy, Professor at the University of Stirling and a leading scholar on African film; Professor Paul Nugent, Professor of Comparative African History and Director of the Centre of African Studies at the University of Edinburgh; and Dr. Andrew Lawrence, honorary fellow at University of Vienna.

The exhibition in the Filmhouse café bar, the festival’s hub, is one of the central events of the film festival every year. This year, we have asked school children from around the city of Edinburgh to offer us their photographs of travels and experiences in Africa, in collaboration with Network Africa. Network Africa encourages and facilitates schools’ exchange trips to English-speaking African countries. From these schools, we have received amazing entries, reflecting young people’s views on the country they visited. Looking through the eyes of children and young people has the potential to make adults analyse the essence of the image more directly. The photographs we have selected are beautiful, thought-provoking, artistic and engaged.

We are grateful for the support of Edinburgh City Council’s Network Africa in putting together the exhibition.

Bab’Aziz: The Prince Who Contemplated His Soul is the last film in the Desert Trilogy by Tunisian director Nacer Khemir. This masterpiece, filmed in the stunning sandscapes of Tunisia and Iran, presents a multi-layered glimpse of Sufism, the mystical expression of Islam. Bab’Aziz is a blind dervish who intimately knows the desert, its harshness and beauty. He is the perfect embodiment of the Sufi principles of humility, courtesy, kindness and respect. With his granddaughter Ishtar, they are on their way to a great reunion of dervishes that takes place every 30 years. But to find out where it is held, one must have faith.
To keep his granddaughter entertained on a cold night, Bab’Aziz relays the ancient tale of a prince who relinquished his kingdom in order to remain beside a small pool in the desert, gazing into its depths while contemplating his soul. As the tale of the prince unfolds, Bab’Aziz and Ishtar encounter many extraordinary characters with stories of their own: Osman, aching for the young women he found at the bottom of a well, Zaid, a gifted singer who seduced a ravishing beauty with his singing, and a red-haired dervish who sees his job of sweeping the mosque as an act of devotion. Bab’Aziz himself becomes part of the many stories and legends that swirl through the desert like a dream as infinite as the grains of sand.
With elements of 1001 Nights, and filled with breathtaking cinematography and wonderful music, Khemir has created a poetic fairytale of longing and belonging set in the shifting sands of the desert.

After the opening screening, you are warmly invited to join us for a reception in Filmhouse café bar. We will serve canapés and drinks, while Cynthia Gentle, a Zimbabwean jazz singer, will provide the accompanying vibes. Our thanks go to Wines of South Africa for providing the complimentary wine.

FREE as part of National Schools Film Week, for Secondary Schools only – To book visit www.nationalschoolsfilmweek.org

The Mirror Boy is an enthralling journey through the small West African country of The Gambia, as seen through the eyes of a London-born 12-year-old boy, Tijani. When Tijani gets involved in a street fight, his mother decides to take him to The Gambia to rediscover discipline and become a man. After many exhilarating adventures with a little boy called Mirror Boy, Tijani discovers that the lines between reality and fantasy, between the physical and the spiritual, are blurred. Tijani must unravel the mystery of the Mirror Boy: who is he and where does he come from? Why is Tijani the only one who can see him?

The screening of The Mirror Boy will be followed by a 45-minute workshop led by AiM’s School Events Coordinator. Free teachers’ packs will be available as a follow-through for schools. Filmmaker Obi Emelonye will be present to talk to the students.

FREE as part of National Schools Film Week, for Secondary Schools only – To book visit www.nationalschoolsfilmweek.org

This wondrous story takes place between the ancient world of spirits and the modern world of environmental issues in Africa. In the savannas, Kodou and Tano meet Ayoka, the guardian of a beautiful ancient tree threatened by a ruthless businessman who intends to cut it down. The children know that without the magical baobab tree, the passage to the surface is forever closed and the spirit of rain will never be able to reappear. Kodou, guided by Ayoka, goes on a quest to find his ancestors who will help save the tree, while Tano stays hidden in the branches of the tree to guard it. Kodou and Akoya discover that the baobab is the passage between two worlds – the spiritual world and the world of humans. The liminal area between those two worlds is where the future of the land will be decided.

The screening will be followed by a 45-minute workshop led by AiM’s School Events Coordinator. Free teachers’ packs will be available as a follow-through for schools.

Nigerian director Obi Emelonye will be presenting this seminar talking about his filmmaking experiences, and in particular his recent award-winning fiction film, The Mirror Boy, which he wrote, directed and co-produced. Produced by The Nollywood Factory and OH Films, The Mirror Boy features some of Africa’s biggest film stars and is an example of a recent African feature film incorporating Nollywood stylistics while remaining accessible to both African and international audiences. Obi is one of the brightest creative minds to come out of Nollywood. Born in Nigeria and based in the UK, Obi’s films have been shown in European cinemas since 2004. Obi has a multi-disciplinary approach to filmmaking with directorial credits including: Echoes of War (2004), The London Successor (2006), Lucky Joe (2006), The Asylum (2008), Quiet Storm (2009), and The Mirror Boy (2010). We are very excited to welcome Obi to Africa in Motion and look forward to learning about his filmmaking experiences.

Screening as part of an afternoon of African Social Documentaries with Body and Soul.

Filmed by the first group of women filmmakers in rural Zambia, Hidden Truth is a candid and intimate portrayal providing an insight into a world that is rarely exposed – the lives of women and children who survive domestic violence. Having long remained silent for fear of persecution by their communities and retaliation by their partners, five survivors of domestic violence in Samfya, a remote region of Northern Zambia, decided to speak out on film about one of the most urgent problems faced by their community and by millions of others around the world. This touching film won the award for Best Documentary at the 2011 Zanzibar International Film Festival.

Screening as part of an afternoon of African Social Documentaries with Hidden Truth.

Victória, Mariana and Vasco are three young Mozambicans with physical disabilities who live in the suburbs of Maputo, Mozambique’s capital city. Victória transmits the self-esteem she received from her education to other physically disabled women by organising a fashion show; Mariana uses her social energy and charisma to create meaningful friendships and overcome the urban barriers of Maputo; and Vasco does business, repairing shoes in the informal sector. Their daily lives reveal their physical, psychological and emotional challenges and victories. The film explores how they look at themselves and others and raises universal questions about self-acceptance and how to find one’s place in society.

In collaboration with the Scottish Documentary Institute and Edinburgh College of Art, we are screening these two documentaries dealing with prominent social issues in contemporary African societies: disability and domestic abuse. How do physically disabled people negotiate the challenging urban landscapes of African cities and how can women suffering domestic abuse in a predominantly patriarchal culture emancipate themselves? The strength and determination of the subjects in the films are inspirational.

After the death of her father, Amy, a young mixed-raced woman, leaves Paris to go to Bobo in Burkina Faso to find her mother, from whom she was separated at the age of eight. When Amy gets there, she discovers only her aunt living in the compound of her childhood. Amy finds the rediscovery of one part of her identity comforting but also stifling. She encounters a city in which she no longer has a point of reference. Unbeknownst to Amy, her mother Miriam has been living for several years as an elusive shadow at the margins of society in France. Miriam meets Ester, the manager of a company in Paris where she is the office cleaner. Ester wants to learn Dioula, Miriam’s mother tongue, and gradually these two lonely women learn to appreciate each other.The Place in Between is an award-winning feature from French/Burkinabe director Sarah Bouyain, poignantly grappling with issues such as belonging, identity and the relationship between a mother and a daughter.

This screening is kindly sponsored by the Centre of African Studies at the University of Edinburgh.

FREE as part of National Schools Film Week, for Secondary Schools only – To book visit www.nationalschoolsfilmweek.org

This is the story of Mbambu, a 16-year-old girl from the village of Kilembe, at the foot of the Rwenzori Mountains in Uganda, who wants to be the first in her family to complete secondary school. Mbambu is also a member of the local amateur drama group, which uses theatre performance and art to educate people in the region on current social and political issues. Mbambu comes from a poor farming family who cannot afford her school fees, so she decides to earn money for school by becoming a guide for tourist trekking in the Rwenzori Mountains, a profession generally reserved for men. Through following Mbambu’s experiences, we see that her determination is paving the way for future girls in her community to aspire to new levels of education and new professions, without turning her back on traditional values.

This screening will be followed by a 45-minute workshop led by AiM’s Schools Events Coordinator. Free teachers’ packs will be available as a follow-through for schools.

Screening as part of an afternoon of African Documentaries about Children, with Waliden and The Necklace and the Bead.

Waited For is a touching documentary that interweaves three stories of South African lesbian women who adopt across racial lines. Such families are a new phenomenon in this young democracy, ruled until 1994 by apartheid policies. Through their stories we see the progress that has been made in South Africa, but also the difficulties that families face when they challenge the traditional hierarchies of race and heterosexism that are still deeply entrenched in the South African psyche.

Screening as part of an afternoon of African Documentaries about Children, with Waited For and The Necklace and the Bead.

The film Waliden, which is a term that refers to an adopted child in the Bambara language, is a plea for better treatment of adopted children in Mali. Adoption has long had a place in traditional Mali, as in other parts of Africa, creating enhanced connections between families and intensifying the social network. But in modern practice it can also become a form of exploitation and abuse. Director Awa Traoré was herself a waliden in her early years, and her film sheds light on the experiences of waliden victims of abuse that are rarely acknowledged.

Screening as part of an afternoon of African Documentaries about Children, with Waliden and Waited For.

The Necklace and the Bead is a beautiful letter from a father to his daughter. Both deeply poetic and realistic, this filmed letter explores the mystery of womanhood and completely subverts the way we look at bodies – specifically women’s bodies – from the body of pain that gives life, to the object of seduction or the ever-mutilated female African body.

The Africa in Motion documentary screenings are brought to you in collaboration with the Scottish Documentary Institute and Edinburgh College of Art.

With this afternoon of documentaries on serious children’s issues, we wish to draw attention to the fact that children in Africa live through difficult as well as life-affirming circumstances. Offering a balanced and ultimately hopeful view on the future of children in Africa, these documentaries engage with issues concerning the children, the parent-child relationship, and all of us globally.
The Africa in Motion documentary screenings are brought to you in collaboration with the Scottish Documentary Institute and Edinburgh College of Art.

Africa in Motion Short Film Competition
4 November 2011 – 5:45pm
Various directors · Various countries · 2h30m · Various formats · Various languages with English subtitles · 15
Venue: Filmhouse Cinema 2

The Africa in Motion short film competition, now a firm fixture of the festival calendar, returns this year with seven stunning short films from across the continent. Dealing with themes ranging from myths and folktales, families and relationships, to mysterious powers and the magic of storytelling, these films are representative of the exciting young filmmaking talent in Africa. The winner, which our jury of international film practitioners has selected in advance, will be announced immediately after the screenings and will receive a cash prize. The audience will also get the chance to vote for their favourite, with the winner of the Audience Choice Award being announced at the closing screening of the festival.

Our thanks go to The Africa Channel for sponsoring the prize money for the competition.

Based on an Ethiopian folktale, Lezare is a revealing and touching story about a homeless boy in a small village in southern Ethiopia. This beautifully shot film conveys a powerful message about global warming, environmental protection, poverty and hunger.

The Tailored Suit tells the story of Mathilda, a young woman in rural South Africa in the 1940s. She dreams of moving to the city, a place of liberation and emancipation, and she discovers a path to the city through an oppressive marriage. Infidelity, a suit and a dinner party change the course of the marriage, propelling Mathilda on a journey of self-discovery.

When 14-year-old Dina falls pregnant, her mother, Fuzia, realises that the violent behaviour of her husband Remance has reached extreme heights. After a big argument that leaves Fuzia in the hospital, Dina persuades her mother to open a case against her father. In court, Fuzia confronts Remance for the last time.

Mokhtar earns his living as a puppeteer with the help of his son and protégé. Using his old van, he travels between the few schools scattered across the expansive Algerian countryside. On the way to a school they encounter several delays and obstacles, but the power of storytelling prevails, as the show must go on.

Three sisters, a brother and their mother: these are the protagonists of Khouya, a chamber piece that unfolds in a typical Algerian home. Tarek beats and terrorises his three sisters Yamina, Nabila and Imen, while their mother stands aside. But when one of the sisters refuses an arranged marriage, the violence reaches a point of no return.

A disillusioned Johannesburg street thug rescues an orphaned child with uncontrollable supernatural powers. On the run, he must help the sickly boy master his gift before a superstitious family member finds them.

At the intersection of tradition and the modern world, Tinye So traces the quest of the ancestors as they struggle to be heard by their people, in this experimental tale exploring a range of innovative storytelling techniques.

Burkinabe director Idrissa Ouedraogo (known for films such as Tilai and Yaaba, screened at previous AiM festivals) continues a career-long exploration of African tradition with the sweeping revenge drama Anger of the Gods. In Burkina Faso in the mid-1800s (then called Mossi), brothers Tanga and Halyare vie for power as their father lies dying after ruling for 20 years. The boorish Tanga wins and begins a reign of terror, taking villager Rasmane’s wife, Awa, as his own. When their child, Salam, proves to be Rasmane’s, Halyare coaches the boy in combat in anticipation of Tanga’s pre-ordained wrath.
This epic tale about royal bloodlines in Burkina Faso reverberates with timelessness and universality. Rich in archetypal characters, and unsparing in showing human greed and weakness, it is also an anguished farewell to pre-colonial rule. Freighted with myth and ancient cultural beliefs, this masterpiece has the power, pathos and eternal truth of a Greek tragedy.

The screening is kindly sponsored by the Society for Francophone Postcolonial Studies.

Today is dedicated to our younger audiences, starting with a free African storytelling event. Parents are welcome to join! Toto Tales returns to Africa in Motion once again, with the most wonderful and inspiring stories told by Kenyan/Scottish storyteller Mara Menzies. Mara will take you away on an exhilarating journey to Africa with stories of animals, kings, princesses and fairy tales.

Stay on for our children’s film screenings starting at 1.00pm. And if you are up for some energetic music and dancing sign up for one of our drumming and dancing workshops for children and families later in the afternoon.

Our selection of African films for children features wonderful animations and stories from all over the continent. English subtitles will be narrated for our younger viewers. Remember not to miss the free African storytelling event earlier at 11.00am!

Ten-year-old Zebu is struggling to look up to his fisherman father as his hero, ever since he stopped bringing fish home. Zebu’s father is paying a big debt to a businessman in the village who bailed him from being locked up in jail. Every morning Zebu and his father go fishing but they have to give the fish to Mr Mapesa, the village businessman. To Zebu, ‘photo fish’ is what they catch. They see the fish, but they never get to eat it nor do they earn from the sales. One day, Zebu’s mother falls ill with malaria and Zebu comes up with a clever trick. The story is an allegory of the poor fishermen for whom fish is a luxury.

Hisab is a beautifully animated film based on an Ethiopian urban folk story. The story follows three animals commonly seen in Ethiopian cities (a goat, a donkey and a dog) on a taxi ride. Through their interactions the story reveals each animal’s nature.

Sibo and her friends are on an afternoon fishing adventure when they come across a fish in a pond, battling to survive because the water has dried up. They rush to the wise Professor who explains with the help of Earthman that water is becoming scarce around the world, and how this precious commodity must be preserved.

Based on a Maasai folktale, this action/adventure short tells the story of how the horrible Ogre, who has a habit of attacking the Maasai village, falls in love with the beautiful young maiden Sanayian. With this knowledge, the villagers finally find a way to trump the Ogre and protect their village.

Based on an Ethiopian folktale, Lezare is a revealing and touching story about a homeless boy in a small village in southern Ethiopia. This beautifully shot film conveys a powerful message about global warming, environmental protection, poverty and hunger.

This wondrous story takes place between the ancient world of spirits and the modern world of environmental issues in Africa. In the savannah, Kodou and Tano meet Ayoka, the guardian of a beautiful ancient tree threatened by a ruthless businessman who intends to cut it down. The children know that without the magical baobab tree, the passage to the surface is forever closed and the spirit of rain will never be able to reappear. Kodou, guided by Ayoka, goes on a quest to find his ancestors who will help save the tree, while Tano stays hidden in the branches of the tree to guard it. Kodou and Akoya discover that the baobab is the passage between two worlds – the spiritual world and the world of humans. The liminal area between those two worlds is where the future of the land will be decided.

The beat of the djembe is infectious and beating the drums makes you feel good! The beat moves to the feet, so get moving and enjoy that rhythm!
Drumming is the ideal kind of music-making for everybody to join in, whatever their ability. Djembe drumming is particularly accessible, because you play with your hands – no need for drumsticks or earplugs! Work with Andrew to learn some drumming rhythms and then create a drum piece.
Dancing to drum beats, clapping and stamping the rhythms, creating step patterns and fun shapes, learning cool dance moves. Work with Rosina to move to the rhythm and create a dance piece. Finale: Dancers and drummers all join together for a Dance and Drum Jamboree!
Our drumming and dancing workshops are organised in collaboration with the Inspiration Festival in Glasgow.

In collaboration with the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Theology and Public Issues’s (CTPI) project on’Peace-building through Media Arts’, we bring you a series of documentaries offering examples of peace-building through film. The screenings will be followed by discussions, considering questions such as: to what extent can film contribute to peace-building? How are children in Africa affected by violence and trauma? In what ways can films bear witness to violent histories, assist in the search for truth and reconciliation and promote peace? How successful are the films screened at Africa in Motion in helping viewers imagine a world where violence does not define the present and future life of communities?

Slaves is about Abuk, nine, and Machiek, fifteen. Like thousands of other children they were taken by government-sponsored militia in Sudan and exploited as slaves. They were later liberated by the organisation CEAWC (Committee for the Eradication of Abduction of Women and Children). Combining animation and documentary, SLAVES is based on an interview made in 2003 and part of a series of animated documentaries with and about children in difficult situations.

Victims and perpetrators of Sierra Leone’s brutal civil war come together for the first time to make peace, face-to-face, in an unprecedented programme of tradition-based truth-telling and forgiveness ceremonies. Through reviving their ancient practice of ‘fambul tok’ (family talk), Sierra Leoneans are building sustainable peace at grassroots level – leading their own reconciliation process and succeeding where the international community’s post-conflict efforts have failed. Filled with lessons for the West, the film explores the depths of a culture that believes that true justice lies in redemption and healing for individuals – and that forgiveness is the surest path to restoring dignity and building strong communities.

In collaboration with the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Theology and Public Issues’s (CTPI) project on’Peace-building through Media Arts’, we bring you a series of documentaries offering examples of peace-building through film. The screenings will be followed by discussions.

When xenophobic attacks broke out across South Africa in May 2008, many found themselves caught off-guard, shocked by a violence that felt like a violation of the principles of their newly democratic nation. In the midst of this violence, many young people, clad in the bright greens and maroons of their school uniforms, looted neighbourhood shops while some of their classmates, refugees themselves, fled to safer ground. Where do I Stand? is a window into the lives of seven young people thinking deeply about their actions during and after the violence. They include a Rwandan refugee, a girl wrestling with the reality of foreigners in her township, a boy facing calls of cowardice, and a girl whose family sheltered their Malawian gardener. Where do I Stand? captures the optimistic voices of youth carving out their own places in this complex and divided country.

From the director of acclaimed feature Viva Riva! (screened at Filmhouse earlier this year), this is a layered, engrossing and intriguing look at a national collective trauma and the ambitious initiative to try and heal its wounds. In war-torn countries, people will not be able to lead productive lives and reconstruction will fail until they have overcome their trauma. In the Democractic Republic of the Congo, a country where over five million people have been killed in wars in recent history, can one develop new ways to deal with this massive trauma and open doors to development? DRC filmmaker Djo Tunda Wa Munga sensitively follows an intriguing psychological experiment that might enable millions of people to overcome their trauma.

Director Nabil Ayouch draws on such earlier masterpieces as Luis Bunuel’s Los Olvidados and Hector Babenco’s Pixote for this memorable and moving portrait of the lives of street kids living in Casablanca’s abandoned lots. Ali, Kwita, Omar and Boubker, four young friends who are members of a gang, rebel against their cruel leader’s oppressive rule and strike out on their own, running away from home a second time. Although they are surrounded by poverty, crime and violence, the boys long for love and tenderness. Ali’s fantasy is to escape to the seas and become a sailor. He wants to reach the Island of Two Suns, become a royal prince and meet a lovely woman.
Set against the cruel street world, with its constant pattern of crime, violence and degradation, Ali Zaoua is a sensitive and poetic masterpiece and winner of over 40 international film festival awards.

This screening was made possible through the support of the School of Languages, Cultures and Religions at the University of Stirling.

A surreal coming-of-age drama featuring calligraphy and horses, told through flashbacks and dreamscapes, Pegasus is a story of a young girl who is found on the streets, wounded and with no memories of her past but a mental reference to an unknown Lord of the Horse. The plotline is intertwined with the experiences of the troubled psychiatrist Dr Zineb, who is treating the young woman in a hospital and trying to find out who she is.
Shot using the RED camera, the aesthetic appeal of the film is stunning. Rolling fields, farmland and hills, as well as the beautiful architecture of ancient villages are brought to life in vibrant colours, contrasting greatly with the sombre and oppressive grey of the indoor hospital scenes. An innovative and incisive critique of Islamic patriarchy, Pegasus won the Golden Stallion at the 2011 FESPACO Film Festival. We are extremely pleased to host its UK premiere.

This screening was made possible through the support of the School of Languages, Cultures and Religions at the University of Stirling.

A small merchant disappears, his brother, a grocer, goes looking for him and – what a surprise! – stumbles upon a scheme to divert Humanitarian Aid. Someone is benefiting from this, but who? And what is a small merchant doing in the middle of all this? An investigation, happenstance, suspense, pursuit and murder follow. But beneath the drama, comedy and delightful performance of the lead actor, the serious questions remain: why are the people with the greatest need passively willing to see an important part of the international relief aid disappear? Why does no official seriously make a stand against this state of affairs? And more generally, why do so many Africans turn their backs on politics, when politics are so crucial to their lives?

This entertaining but relevant film won actor-director Sylvestre Amoussou (who also directed Africa Paradis, screened to wide acclaim at Africa in Motion 2007) an award for best actor at the 2011 FESPACO Film Festival.

The closing screening of Africa in Motion 2011 will be preceded by screenings of the winners of the AiM Short Film Competition and Audience Choice Award. Join us for a celebratory drink and some African music in the bar afterwards.